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Jun. 4th, 2011 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsSaw X-Men: First Class with the usual suspects. It was definitely better than I expected, I think I enjoyed it more than the previous X-men movies. Well, its not hard to be better than the crappy X-3, but I think it was more cohesive than the first two as well.
There is one plot point that's pretty nonsensical (more on that later) but otherwise it was pretty well done. I think my favorite part was all the hot little outfits they had Emma Frost in. And this was definitely a better portrayal of her than in the Wolverine movie.
Actually, other than the previously mentioned plot point, there were a few creative liberties that were a little jarring. I mean, they had Xavier have a British accent in this because he had one when played by Captain Picard. But its kinda weird given it didn't seem like kid Charles had an English accent. Meanwhile, Moira Mactaggert and Banshee are both American. Also, Moira is a CIA agent in this instead of a doctor. So there's this scene where she first discovers the existence of superpowered people and is all, "I need to find an expert on genetic mutations!", so I turn to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
clevemire and say, "Someone like... herself?!"
I've spoiled a little so far, so I'll put more under a cut:
Getting back to Charles' English accent thing. So anyways, he and Mystique first meet when they were little children, with her having broken into his mansion to eat. She at first tries to disguise herself as his mom when he investigates the noise, having seen her picture on the wall. But even without the telepathy, he figures out Mystique is a fake because his mom's not that nice and would never cook for him. But, he's excited to finally meet someone like him with powers. They don't really explain how he manages to swing it, but he takes her in (and I guess this is somehow fine with his neglectful parents, to let in some stray girl?)
Anyways, he grows up to be a smarmy douche teaching at Oxford, while she pretends to be his younger sister. Of course, I'm sure that whole thing raised a few eyebrows given 1) Charles has a British accent and Raven doesn't and 2) She's always hanging all over him and getting all jealous over all the chyx he's banging. She's totally crushing on Charles, but he's all, "You're kinda like a little sister to me!" though she thinks its because her true form is all weird and blue skinned.
Heh, we later find out she ages slower because of her mutation (which is why she's kinda young in the earlier X-movies, while Magneto and Prof X are old men). But there's a scene later where she tries to seduce Magneto. So, according to the credits, Charles is 12 and Raven is 10 when they meet. And James McEvoy is 24 year old Charles, which would make Raven 22. But when she's in Magneto's bed, he's all, "Maybe in a few years, when you're older!" But she's totally legal. And she doesn't look that young! But heh, this scene also has one of surprise cameos I was totally unaware of, and I'm usually spoiled! So, anyways, in response to Mags' "Maybe when you're older comment", she turns into Rebecca Romijin.
The other cool and surprising cameo, is when Magneto and Professor X are looking for recruits, and they bump into Wolverine (and played by Hugh Jackman!), who basically blows them off.
But speaking of recruits, its an odd bunch they chose. There's Mystique, followed by Beast. Heh, and in what turns out to be one of many kinda-gay scenes with Magneto and Charles is the scene from the trailer where they're lounging in some back room of a strip club getting a dance from a fly-winged chick. The fly winged chick is not Pixie as some may guess, but Angel Salvadore. I mean, I guess they heard there was an Angel in the original X-roster, but picked the non-white dude one to have some more variety. That's not the only change they make. Not only do they add Banshee to the initial roster, they make him American and not Irish or Scottish or whatever the hell he was supposed to be.
Then they flip flop the Summer bros, with Alex becoming the older one and joining the team first. And finally, they round it out with Darwin. I know, you're thinking, "Who?!" He's one of the members of the lost X-men. Long story short, right before the story that takes place in Giant Sized X-men in 1973, where we're introduced to a new team containing Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, etc, going to rescue the team from Krakoa, apparently Charles had sent a different team. One that contained Darwin, as well as the third Summers brother and some other randoms who end up dying. And the experience was so traumatic for everyone that Professor X erased their existence from the X-men's minds, and what they think happened was the story in that issue. But that has nothing to do with the movie, just a little back story on Darwin since he's an obscure character that most people don't know.
Anyways, it doesn't matter, since he dies pretty quickly, even though his power is that his body automagically and quickly adapts to survive stuff. Like submerge him in water and he'll grow gills, or develop rock hard skin to protect from blows. Unfortunately, he could not adapt to Sebastian Shaw absorbing one of Havok's blasts and stuffing the energy down Darwin's throat.
But what the hell, so the black guy dies pretty quickly, and the other non-white member defects to the bad guys? Though its hard to blame her. I actually liked the scene where Sebastian Shaw and his gang (minus Emma Frost) invade the complex where they were initially staying. It did a good job of showing how they were only just kids and how freaked the hell out they must've been when a couple of guys just show up and systematically and brutally slaughter everyone around them. So I don't fault Angel for choosing Sebastian when he's basically "join me or die" since he showed how powerful he and his people are.
Speaking of his people, his little gang was kinda random. I mentioned Emma Frost, and Angel joins him. But they also have Azazel, who's not actually a mutant (he's a full fledged demonic creature!), but I guess they wanted to have some link to Nightcrawler. I guess he and Mystique eventually bang to conceive him? But then they randomly have Riptide from the Marauders as well? They kinda change his powers around. He's supposed to spin really fast, which lets him hurl things like shurikens and knives at tremendously lethal speeds, but they changed it to him being able to generate tornados.
But that brings me to the nonsensical part. So they had Shaw be the head Nazi guy at the camp Magneto and his family were detained at. He ends up killing Magneto's mom to try and get him to use his powers. So eventually Magneto tries to hunt him down. Like Magneto, Shaw believes in the whole mutants are superior thing, so they should kill the humans before the humans turn on them first. In the end, Magneto is all "I agree with everything you say, but eff you, you killed my mom!" and he kills him. I totally didn't get at first that he was pushing the coin through Shaw's head slowly since it was going slow enough that Shaw's energy absorption didn't protect him.
So yeah, his anti-human stance doesn't really make sense, since it ended up being a mutant who killed his mom, so where does he get this "humans will try to kill us" thing? I mean, it turns out they do try to kill him, but he was thinking that before they even really turned against him!
I thinkclevemire had a cool point- it would've been so much better if Magneto never found out Shaw was also a mutant. Then at least his anti-human attitudes would make some sense, and it would be all ironic since he would blame the normals when it was his own kind that killed his mom. But alas, as it is, they have that little bit of nonsense. But other than that, the rest of the movie was done well.
Getting back to Sebastian's powers, I'm not exactly thrilled with how they portrayed it. Its a cool power, but I don't like the fact that he could "contain" an explosion in his hands. I always thought that was the most awesome aspects of his power- you could be kicking the crap out of him, wondering why he's not going down, and all of a sudden he puts his first through you because he's directed all that energy back at you. I mean, it still kinda works like that. But a grenade exploding in his hand, I can accept him absorbing the stuff that actually hits him, but I think it should be something where the explosion takes place, he's just not harmed, but anyone standing next to him would. But as it is, he could "hold" the explosion in his hand and kinda squeeze it down into nothing as he absorbed it, and I don't think it should work like that. I guess they could explain it as a bio-kinetic field that surrounds his body, and maybe in pushing his hands close together the field around him kinda extends to kinda encase the area between his hands. I know, I'm being totally pedantic.
Heh, it was a little silly though that the one general guy brought a grenade with him and threatened to blow them all up if they tried to double cross him. Its just not something I think a normal person, particularly an old general would do, but it gave a fine way for Shaw to demonstrate his abilities.
Also, when Magneto killed Shaw, he had just absorbed the energy from a nuclear reactor. But nothing came of that. I was thinking after he died, they'd have to come up with some way to get rid of the body as it released all that pent up energy, but nope, he just dies, no fuss no muss.
Actually, another hilarious thing is that I totally forgot Professor X is crippled in modern times. So when Magneto accidentally deflects a bullet that hits Charles' spine, I suddenly remembered, "Oh yeah, Charles is in a wheelchair!" I did not forget he eventually goes bald, as they make way too many jokes about Charles loving his hair.
Finally, another weird thing I found about the movie is all the "that guy"s in it! Its like its odd the sheer number of "that guy" actors in this playing random roles.
There is one plot point that's pretty nonsensical (more on that later) but otherwise it was pretty well done. I think my favorite part was all the hot little outfits they had Emma Frost in. And this was definitely a better portrayal of her than in the Wolverine movie.
Actually, other than the previously mentioned plot point, there were a few creative liberties that were a little jarring. I mean, they had Xavier have a British accent in this because he had one when played by Captain Picard. But its kinda weird given it didn't seem like kid Charles had an English accent. Meanwhile, Moira Mactaggert and Banshee are both American. Also, Moira is a CIA agent in this instead of a doctor. So there's this scene where she first discovers the existence of superpowered people and is all, "I need to find an expert on genetic mutations!", so I turn to
clevemire and say, "Someone like... herself?!" I've spoiled a little so far, so I'll put more under a cut:
Getting back to Charles' English accent thing. So anyways, he and Mystique first meet when they were little children, with her having broken into his mansion to eat. She at first tries to disguise herself as his mom when he investigates the noise, having seen her picture on the wall. But even without the telepathy, he figures out Mystique is a fake because his mom's not that nice and would never cook for him. But, he's excited to finally meet someone like him with powers. They don't really explain how he manages to swing it, but he takes her in (and I guess this is somehow fine with his neglectful parents, to let in some stray girl?)
Anyways, he grows up to be a smarmy douche teaching at Oxford, while she pretends to be his younger sister. Of course, I'm sure that whole thing raised a few eyebrows given 1) Charles has a British accent and Raven doesn't and 2) She's always hanging all over him and getting all jealous over all the chyx he's banging. She's totally crushing on Charles, but he's all, "You're kinda like a little sister to me!" though she thinks its because her true form is all weird and blue skinned.
Heh, we later find out she ages slower because of her mutation (which is why she's kinda young in the earlier X-movies, while Magneto and Prof X are old men). But there's a scene later where she tries to seduce Magneto. So, according to the credits, Charles is 12 and Raven is 10 when they meet. And James McEvoy is 24 year old Charles, which would make Raven 22. But when she's in Magneto's bed, he's all, "Maybe in a few years, when you're older!" But she's totally legal. And she doesn't look that young! But heh, this scene also has one of surprise cameos I was totally unaware of, and I'm usually spoiled! So, anyways, in response to Mags' "Maybe when you're older comment", she turns into Rebecca Romijin.
The other cool and surprising cameo, is when Magneto and Professor X are looking for recruits, and they bump into Wolverine (and played by Hugh Jackman!), who basically blows them off.
But speaking of recruits, its an odd bunch they chose. There's Mystique, followed by Beast. Heh, and in what turns out to be one of many kinda-gay scenes with Magneto and Charles is the scene from the trailer where they're lounging in some back room of a strip club getting a dance from a fly-winged chick. The fly winged chick is not Pixie as some may guess, but Angel Salvadore. I mean, I guess they heard there was an Angel in the original X-roster, but picked the non-white dude one to have some more variety. That's not the only change they make. Not only do they add Banshee to the initial roster, they make him American and not Irish or Scottish or whatever the hell he was supposed to be.
Then they flip flop the Summer bros, with Alex becoming the older one and joining the team first. And finally, they round it out with Darwin. I know, you're thinking, "Who?!" He's one of the members of the lost X-men. Long story short, right before the story that takes place in Giant Sized X-men in 1973, where we're introduced to a new team containing Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, etc, going to rescue the team from Krakoa, apparently Charles had sent a different team. One that contained Darwin, as well as the third Summers brother and some other randoms who end up dying. And the experience was so traumatic for everyone that Professor X erased their existence from the X-men's minds, and what they think happened was the story in that issue. But that has nothing to do with the movie, just a little back story on Darwin since he's an obscure character that most people don't know.
Anyways, it doesn't matter, since he dies pretty quickly, even though his power is that his body automagically and quickly adapts to survive stuff. Like submerge him in water and he'll grow gills, or develop rock hard skin to protect from blows. Unfortunately, he could not adapt to Sebastian Shaw absorbing one of Havok's blasts and stuffing the energy down Darwin's throat.
But what the hell, so the black guy dies pretty quickly, and the other non-white member defects to the bad guys? Though its hard to blame her. I actually liked the scene where Sebastian Shaw and his gang (minus Emma Frost) invade the complex where they were initially staying. It did a good job of showing how they were only just kids and how freaked the hell out they must've been when a couple of guys just show up and systematically and brutally slaughter everyone around them. So I don't fault Angel for choosing Sebastian when he's basically "join me or die" since he showed how powerful he and his people are.
Speaking of his people, his little gang was kinda random. I mentioned Emma Frost, and Angel joins him. But they also have Azazel, who's not actually a mutant (he's a full fledged demonic creature!), but I guess they wanted to have some link to Nightcrawler. I guess he and Mystique eventually bang to conceive him? But then they randomly have Riptide from the Marauders as well? They kinda change his powers around. He's supposed to spin really fast, which lets him hurl things like shurikens and knives at tremendously lethal speeds, but they changed it to him being able to generate tornados.
But that brings me to the nonsensical part. So they had Shaw be the head Nazi guy at the camp Magneto and his family were detained at. He ends up killing Magneto's mom to try and get him to use his powers. So eventually Magneto tries to hunt him down. Like Magneto, Shaw believes in the whole mutants are superior thing, so they should kill the humans before the humans turn on them first. In the end, Magneto is all "I agree with everything you say, but eff you, you killed my mom!" and he kills him. I totally didn't get at first that he was pushing the coin through Shaw's head slowly since it was going slow enough that Shaw's energy absorption didn't protect him.
So yeah, his anti-human stance doesn't really make sense, since it ended up being a mutant who killed his mom, so where does he get this "humans will try to kill us" thing? I mean, it turns out they do try to kill him, but he was thinking that before they even really turned against him!
I think
clevemire had a cool point- it would've been so much better if Magneto never found out Shaw was also a mutant. Then at least his anti-human attitudes would make some sense, and it would be all ironic since he would blame the normals when it was his own kind that killed his mom. But alas, as it is, they have that little bit of nonsense. But other than that, the rest of the movie was done well.Getting back to Sebastian's powers, I'm not exactly thrilled with how they portrayed it. Its a cool power, but I don't like the fact that he could "contain" an explosion in his hands. I always thought that was the most awesome aspects of his power- you could be kicking the crap out of him, wondering why he's not going down, and all of a sudden he puts his first through you because he's directed all that energy back at you. I mean, it still kinda works like that. But a grenade exploding in his hand, I can accept him absorbing the stuff that actually hits him, but I think it should be something where the explosion takes place, he's just not harmed, but anyone standing next to him would. But as it is, he could "hold" the explosion in his hand and kinda squeeze it down into nothing as he absorbed it, and I don't think it should work like that. I guess they could explain it as a bio-kinetic field that surrounds his body, and maybe in pushing his hands close together the field around him kinda extends to kinda encase the area between his hands. I know, I'm being totally pedantic.
Heh, it was a little silly though that the one general guy brought a grenade with him and threatened to blow them all up if they tried to double cross him. Its just not something I think a normal person, particularly an old general would do, but it gave a fine way for Shaw to demonstrate his abilities.
Also, when Magneto killed Shaw, he had just absorbed the energy from a nuclear reactor. But nothing came of that. I was thinking after he died, they'd have to come up with some way to get rid of the body as it released all that pent up energy, but nope, he just dies, no fuss no muss.
Actually, another hilarious thing is that I totally forgot Professor X is crippled in modern times. So when Magneto accidentally deflects a bullet that hits Charles' spine, I suddenly remembered, "Oh yeah, Charles is in a wheelchair!" I did not forget he eventually goes bald, as they make way too many jokes about Charles loving his hair.
Finally, another weird thing I found about the movie is all the "that guy"s in it! Its like its odd the sheer number of "that guy" actors in this playing random roles.
